Ginn Hale (born April 23, 1968)

Ginn Hale spent her early childhood living in a small cabin above a California commune utterly unaware of the modern world only fifty miles away. Upon discovering technological miracles of electricity, running water, the flush toilet and tape she swore never to forsake them-though she admits that, like an occasionally lapsing alcoholic, she sporadically drifts from civilization to live like a wild thing.

She attended the University of Northern Colorado as well as Denver University and has tramped through all 31 states of Mexico on botanical expeditions. Later she plunged through the wilds of Heathrow Airport, discovering the locations of nearly every bookstore while hunting elusive and often overbooked flights to Paris. She now lives in Bellingham Washington where she writes fantasy and science fiction and donates blood just for the fun of it.

Wicked Gentlemen is Ginn´s first novel. It was a Lambda Literary Award finalist and won the 2008 Spectrum Award for best novel.

Hell Cop, coauthored with Astrid Amara and Nicole Kimberling, won a 2009 Rainbow Award as Best LGBT Futuristic.

Source: http://www.ginnhale.com/

Further Readings:

Wicked Gentlemen (Hells Below) by Ginn Hale
Series: Hells Below
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Blind Eye Books (October 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0978986113
ISBN-13: 978-0978986117
Amazon: Wicked Gentlemen (Hells Below)
Amazon Kindle: Wicked Gentlemen (Hells Below)

Belimai Sykes is many things: a Prodigal, the descendant of ancient demons, a creature of dark temptations and rare powers. He is also a man with a brutal past and a dangerous addiction. And Belimai Sykes is the only man Captain William Harper can turn to when faced with a series of grisly murders. But Mr. Sykes does not work for free and the price of Belimai's company will cost Captain Harper far more than his reputation. From the ornate mansions of noblemen, where vivisection and sorcery are hidden beneath a veneer of gold, to the steaming slums of Hells Below, Captain Harper must fight for justice and for his life. His enemies are many and his only ally is a devil he knows too well. Such are the dangers of dealing with the wicked.

Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling & Ginn Hale
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (October 14, 2008)
Amazon Kindle: Hell Cop

Welcome to Parmas City, where demons and sorcerers live among ordinary people and a few tough Hell Cops protect them all. Jay, Argent, and Ben are three of them, and they've just met the men of their hottest dreams.

Next of Kin by Astrid Amara
Jay Yervant is a Hell Cop so powerful that his bare skin incinerates anyone he contacts. Isolated, he is tortured by desire, until he meets Brian, a sensual young man who touches him with impunity. But Jay's burgeoning hope is threatened when a malevolent sorcerer unleashes a host of demonic assassins against Brian. Keeping his lover may cost Jay his life.

Red Sands by Nicole Kimberling
Anthropologist Michael Gold's got problems. His apartment's been ransacked, his dad's missing, and he's been framed for murder. As a half-demon he expects trouble from the city's Hell Cops. Instead, he gets Argent, a man with intimate knowledge of Michael and whom Michael can't penetrate with his psychic powers. So does Argent want to clear him or expose him?

Touching Sparks by Ginn Hale
When photojournalist James Sparks discovers an underworld of sorcery, blood sports and demonic drug traffic, he turns to Detective Ben Moran, a hard-bodied Hell Cop whose touch sends James's pulse racing. But when James uncovers evidence of police corruption he realizes that Moran may be in as much danger as he is.

More Spotlights at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

More Rainbow Awards at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards/2009

K.A. Mitchell (born April 23)

K.A. Mitchell discovered the magic of writing at an early age when she learned that a carefully crayoned note of apology sent to the kitchen in a toy truck would earn her a reprieve from banishment to her room. Her career as a spin-control artist was cut short when her family moved to a two-story house, and her trucks would not roll safely down the stairs. Around the same time, she decided that Chip and Ken made a much cuter couple than Ken and Barbie and was perplexed when invitations to play Barbie dropped off. She never stopped making stuff up, though, and was surprised to find out that people would pay her to do it. Although the men in her stories usually carry more emotional baggage than even LAX can lose in a year, she guarantees they always find their sexy way to a happy ending.

Collision Course won a 2009 Rainbow Award as Best LGBT Contemporary and Best Gay Novel.

Further Readings:

Collision Course by K.A. Mitchell
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (November 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1605044148
ISBN-13: 978-1605044149
Amazon: Collision Course
Amazon Kindle: Collision Course

Paramedic Aaron Chase doesn't have anything against love, but he knows it means a lot of responsibility, like when he had to step in to raise his siblings. With the last one off to college, Aaron's anticipating enjoying life on his own terms. He certainly isn't expecting Joey Miller to accidentally drop into his life. Sexy, funny and annoyingly optimistic, Joey's tendency to get into trouble keeps sending him Aaron's way; Joey knows all about love. He's fallen in it ten times. All that experience has to count for something, right? With Aaron it's different. Joey's fallen for good.

More Spotlights at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

More Rainbow Awards at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards/2009

Alex & Jónsi

Jónsi & Alex is an artistic collaboration between Jón Þór Birgisson (singer for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, born April 23, 1975) and his partner Alex Somers. They create ambient music as well as visual art. The music tends to be more ethereal and experimental than that of Sigur Rós. (P: Kennysun. Jonsi Performing at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, NYC, 2012)

Jónsi & Alex began as a Sigur Rós side project around 2003 under the name Riceboy Sleeps. On November 24, 2006, they released their first picture book with the same name as their project. One thousand hand-numbered editions were produced, and only available in Iceland. They released a second edition in July 2007 that was not hand-numbered.

To spread the word of the book's publishing, Somers and Jón held an art exhibition at Gallery Turpentine in Reykjavík, Iceland. In August 2007, they went to Arkansas to hold their first exhibit outside of Iceland. In October of the same year, they held a third exhibit at Melbourne International Arts Festival and were part of the Sequences Art Festival in Reykjavík.

The two have released two singles: "All the Big Trees" and "Daníell in the Sea". Their song "Stokkseyri" played during the fourth season finale of the hit British show Skins.

They also contributed the song "Happiness" to the Dark Was the Night charity compilation album produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. At that time, the duo were known as Riceboy Sleeps.


Shimelle Laine. Alex Somers at the Riceboy Sleeps launch, 2009

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3nsi_%26_Alex

( Further Readings )

More LGBT Couples at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Anne Seymour Damer & Mary Berry

Anne Seymour Damer, née Conway, (8 November 1749 – 28 May 1828) was an English sculptor. Damer's friends included a number of influential Whigs and aristocrats. Her guardian and friend Horace Walpole was a significant figure, who helped foster her career and on his death left her his London villa, Strawberry Hill. She also moved in literary and theatrical circles, where her friends included the poet and dramatist Joanna Baillie, the author Mary Berry, and the actors Sarah Siddons and Elizabeth Farren. She frequently took part in masques at the Pantheon and amateur theatricals at the London residence of the Duke of Richmond, who was married to her half-sister. (P: ©Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792)/Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund. Anne Seymour Damer, 1773 (©4))

A number of sources have named Damer as being involved in lesbian relationships, particularly relating to her close friendship with Mary Berry, to whom she had been introduced by Walpole in 1789. Even during her marriage, her likings for male clothing and demonstrative friendships with other women were publicly noted and satirised by hostile commentators such as Hester Thrale and in the anonymous pamphlet A Sapphick Epistle from Jack Cavendish to the Honourable and most Beautiful, Mrs D— (c.1770). 

A romance between Damer and Elizabeth Farren, who was mentioned by Thrale, is the central storyline in the 2004 novel Life Mask by Emma Donoghue.

Anne Conway was born in Sevenoaks into an aristocratic Whig family; she was the only daughter of Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway (1721–1795) and his wife Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury (1721–1803), and was brought up at the family home at Park Place, Remenham, Berkshire.


Statue of Anne Seymour Damer, by Giuseppe Ceracchi
Anne Seymour Damer was an English sculptor. In 1802, while the Treaty of Amiens was in effect, she visited Paris with the author Mary Berry and was granted an audience with Napoleon. A number of sources have named Damer as being involved in lesbian relationships, particularly relating to her close friendship with Mary Berry, to whom she had been introduced by Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Oxford in 1789. Walpole will leave his London villa, Strawberry Hill, to Anne, Mary and Mary’s sister, Agnes.

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Seymour_Damer

Elizabeth Farren (c. 1759 – 23 April 1829) was an English actress of the late 18th century. (©Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769–1830)/The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Elizabeth Farren, before 1791 (©4))

Elizabeth (sometimes Eliza) Farren was the daughter of George Farren of Cork, Ireland, a surgeon and apothecary, later an actor, and his wife (née Wright) of Liverpool, the daughter of a publican or brewer. At a very early age Farren performed at Bath and elsewhere in juvenile parts. In 1774 she was acting with her mother and sisters at Wakefield under Tate Wilkinson’s opponent, Whiteley, when she played Columbine and sang. At the age of fifteen, at Liverpool, she played Rosetta in Love in a Village and subsequently her best known role of Lady Townly in The Provoked Husband by Colley Cibber.

Her first London appearance was in 1777 as Miss Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, and subsequent successes established her reputation. The Shakespearean parts of Hermione, Portia, Olivia and Juliet were in her repertory, but comedy parts such as Lady Betty Modish, Lady Townly, Lady Fanciful and Lady Teazle were her favorites.

She was introduced by Younger, her Liverpool manager, to George Colman and made her first appearance in London at the Haymarket on 9 June 1777, playing Miss Hardcastle. Her performance was favourably received, and, after playing Maria in Murphy’s Citizen, Rosetta, and Miss Tittup in Garrick's Bon Ton, she was cast as Rosina in the Spanish Barber, or the Useless Precaution, his adaptation from Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville. She also spoke the epilogue to the play. On 11 July 1778 she was the original Nancy Lovel in Colman's Suicide. This was a "breeches" part, to which her figure was unsuited, and she was subjected to some satire for shapelessness. Performances as Lady Townly, and Lady Fanciful in the Provoked Wife restored her to public favour.


©Anne Seymour Damer (1749-1828)/NPG 4469. Elizabeth (nee Farren), Countess of Derby, ca. 1788 (©4)
Elizabeth Farren was an English actress of the late 18th century. On May 1, 1797 she married Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752–1834). A life-size portrait of her by Sir Thomas Lawrence, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was shown at the Royal Academy annual exhibition in 1790. A romance between Damer and Elizabeth Farren, who was mentioned by Hester Thrale, is the central storyline in the 2004 novel Life Mask by Emma Donoghue.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Farren

Mary Berry (March 16, 1763 – November 20, 1852) was an English non-fiction writer born in Kirkbridge, North Yorkshire. She is best known for her letters and journals, namely Social Life in England and France from the French Revolution, published in 1831, and Journals and Correspondence, published after her death in 1865. Berry became notable through her association with close friend Horace Walpole, whose literary collection she inherited along with her sister and father.

Berry was born in Kirkbridge, Yorkshire on March 16, 1763. Her younger sister Agnes, who proved to be her closest confidant during Berry’s life, was born fourteen months late on May 29, 1764.

Their father, Robert Berry, was the nephew of a successful Scottish merchant named Ferguson. Robert Berry received £300,000 at the middle of his life and bought an estate at Raith in Fifeshire. Robert, the older son of Ferguson's sister, began working at his uncle's counting-house in Broad Street, Austin Friars. In 1762, he married his distant cousin, Miss Seaton. After giving birth to Mary and Agnes, their mother died in 1767 at 23-years-old in the childbirth of their third child, who also died.

Following their mother's death, the two girls were cared for by their grandmother, Mrs. Seaton, at Askham in Yorkshire. They were moved to the College House in Chiswick in 1770. After their governess at Chiswick married in 1776, the two girls were self-educated. Their religious instruction consisted of Mary reading aloud a Psalm to her grandmother every morning and one of the Saturday papers from the Spectator every Sunday.


©Anne Seymour Damer (1749-1828)/NPG 6395. Mary Berry, 1793 (©4)

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Berry_(writer,_born_1763)

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Charles Silverstein & William Bory

Dr. Charles Silverstein, Ph.D. (born April 23, 1935) is an American writer, therapist and gay activist. He is a frequent lecturer at conventions on both the state and national levels, author of eight books and many professional papers, and has received many awards from the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Foundation.

For the Ferryman is a stunning memoir. Charles Silverstein spends a considerable bulk of the memoir charting the gay radicalism of the 1970s… [and] pairs these passages with intimate glimpses into his twenty-year romantic relationship with William Bory (August 18, 1950 - November 12, 1993), a radical gay activist who was prone to several neuroses and a host of addictions. Rather than idealizing his lover, Silverstein captures Bory in all his complexities: charming, difficult and maddeningly broken. -Angelo Nikolopoulos, Next. Charles and William's Anniversary was on February 1, 1973.

Dr. Silverstein earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1974.

His essays and professional papers have been published widely in journals and anthologies. He is the founding director of the Institute for Human Identity and Identity House in New York City. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Homosexuality. He is a member of American Psychological Association and was made a Fellow in 1987. He is also a Member of Division 44 of the APA (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues), the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA), and the Committee on Ethical Practices of NYSPA.


©Michael Leonard. Courtesy of Charles Silverstein. Charles Silverstein & William Bory. “William enjoyed writing epigrams. One of his favorites was, "With the disappearance of monasteries the proliferation of gay bars was inevitable.” –Charles Silverstein (©15)
Dr. Charles Silverstein, Ph.D. is an American writer, therapist and gay activist. “Charles Silverstein spends a considerable bulk of For the Ferryman charting the gay radicalism of the 1970s… [and] pairs these passages with intimate glimpses into his twenty-year romantic relationship with William Bory, a radical gay activist who was prone to several neuroses and a host of addictions. Rather than idealizing his lover, Silverstein captures Bory in all his complexities: charming, difficult and maddeningly broken.” -Angelo Nikolopoulos, Next.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Silverstein

If you want to learn what gay men do in bed, The Joy of Gay Sex – Charles Silverstein & Felice Picano is the book. --Cat Grant

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Prince Edmond de Polignac, Robert de Montesquiou & Winnaretta Singer

Prince Edmond Melchior Jean Marie de Polignac (19 April 1834 – 8 August 1901) was a French composer. (P: James Tissot (1836-1902), The Circle of the Rue Royale (Prince Edmond de Polignac))

Edmond was a descendant of one of the more illustrious families of France. His grandmother, the duchesse de Polignac, had been the close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette. His father Auguste Jules Armand Marie, Prince de Polignac (1780–1847) was the Minister of State in the Restoration government of King Charles X, and was the author of the July Ordinances in 1830, which revoked the Constitution, suspended freedom of the press, and gave the king extraordinary powers, including absolute power in the name of "insuring the safety of the state".

The document resulted in the development of an insurgency and resulted in the "July Revolution" that ended the reign of the Bourbons. The king and his family went into exile, and his cabinet members were tried. Jules de Polignac was captured, tried, convicted and condemned in December 1830 to la mort civile: life imprisonment and a complete loss of civil rights. He was incarcerated in the fortress at Ham.

Jules de Polignac, who by his first wife Barbara Campbell had had one daughter and one son, by his second wife Mary Charlotte Parkyns (1792–1864), had, in 1830, two sons, and a daughter was born as he began his sentence. Despite the harsh sentence, visitation was allowed, and two more sons were born to Jules while he was imprisoned. Edmond was his last child, born in Paris on 19 April 1834.


Robert de Montesquiou, portrait by Giovanni Boldini, Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Robert de Montesquiou was a French aesthete, Symbolist poet, art collector and dandy. In 1875, he met Prince Edmond de Polignac. By 1892, Polignac, aged 57, was destitute. He had a lavender marriage with Winnaretta Singer, daughter of Isaac Singer, the sewing machine tycoon, and lesbian. Montesquiou, who felt Edmond owed him a debt of gratitude for effecting this marriage of convenience, felt slighted when Edmond was not sufficiently effulgent, and their friendship was irrevocably broken.

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_de_Polignac

Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE (23 April 1858 – 8 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Smyth was born in London, as the fourth of a family of eight children. Her father, J. H. Smyth, who was a Major-General in the Royal Artillery, was very much opposed to her making a career in music.

Undeterred, Smyth was determined to become a composer, studied with a private tutor, and then attended the Leipzig Conservatory, where she met many of the many composers of the day. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral and concertante works, choral works, and operas.

She lived at Frimhurst, near Frimley Green for many years, but from 1913 onwards, she began gradually to lose her hearing and managed to complete only four more major works before deafness brought her composing career to an end. However, she found a new interest in literature and, between 1919 and 1940, she published ten highly successful, mostly autobiographical, books.

In recognition of her work as a composer and writer, Smyth was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1922. She died in Woking in 1944 at the age of 86, and was cremated there.

She first studied privately with Alexander Ewing when she was seventeen. He introduced her to the music of Wagner and Berlioz. After a major battle with her father about her plans to devote her life to music, Smyth was allowed to advance her musical education at the Leipzig Conservatory, where she studied composition with Carl Reinecke. She left after a year, however, disillusioned with the low standard of teaching, and continued her music studies privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg. While she was at the Leipzig Conservatory, she met Dvořák, Grieg and Tchaikovsky. Through Herzogenberg she also met Clara Schumann and Brahms.


with her dog Marco
Dame Ethel Smyth was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Henry Bennet Brewster, may have been her only male lover. In 1892, she wrote to him: "I wonder why it is so much easier for me to love my own sex passionately than yours. I can't make it out for I am a very healthy-minded person." She fell in love with Winnaretta Singer. The affronted husband of one of Singer’s lovers once stood outside the princess's Venetian palazzo, declaring, "If you are half the man I think you are, you will come out here and fight me.“ 

( Read more... )

Marie Joseph Robert Anatole, comte de Montesquiou-Fézensac (March 7, 1855, Paris – December 11, 1921, Menton), was a French aesthete, Symbolist poet, art collector and dandy. In 1875 he met Prince Edmond de Polignac. Montesquiou was the one who introduced, through his cousin Élisabeth Greffulhe, Polignac to heiress Winnaretta Singer, with whom Polignac had a lavender marriage. Montesquiou, who felt Edmond owed him a debt of gratitude for effecting this marriage of convenience, felt slighted when Edmond was not sufficiently effulgent, and the friendship was irrevocably broken.

He is reputed to have been the inspiration both for des Esseintes in Joris-Karl Huysmans' (1848-1907) À rebours (1884) and, most famously, for Baron de Charlus in Proust's (1871-1922) À la recherche du temps perdu (1913-1927).

Robert de Montesquiou was a scion of the famous French Montesquiou-Fézensac Family. He was a distant nephew of Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, the model for Dumas' Musketeer. His paternal grandfather was Count Anatole de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1788-1878), Aide-de-camp to Napoleon and grand officer of the Légion d'honneur; his father was Anatole's third son, Thierry, who married Pauline Duroux, an orphan, in 1841. With his wife's dowry, Thierry bought a Charnizay manor, built a mansion in Paris, and was elected Vice-President of the Jockey Club. He was a successful stockbroker who left a substantial fortune. Robert was the last of Count Thierry's children, brothers Gontran and Aymery, and sister Élise. His cousin, Élisabeth, comtesse Greffulhe (1860-1952), was one of Marcel Proust's (1871-1922) models for the duchesse de Guermantes.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Montesquiou

( Read more... )

Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac (8 January 1865 – 26 November 1943) was a musical patron and heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Born in America, she lived most of her adult life in France. In 1893, at the age of 29, she stepped companionably into an equally chaste marriage with the 59-year-old Prince Edmond de Polignac (19 April 1834 – 8 August 1901), a gay amateur composer. Although it was a mariage blanc (unconsummated marriage), or indeed a lavender marriage (a union between a gay man and a lesbian), it was based on profound love, mutual respect, understanding, and artistic friendship, expressed especially through their love of music.

Mrs. Paris Singer and her daughter Miss Winnaretta. The younger woman in the picture, i.e. the daughter is the fraternal niece of Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac. She is the daughter of Paris Eugene Singer 1867-1932, who was the younger brother of Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac. The second wife of Paris Eugene Singer 1867-1932 was Cecilia Henrietta Augusta ("Lillie") Graham, his first and brief marriage to a family maid having been annulled. The younger woman in the picture is their daughter, Etheleen Winnaretta Singer born December 16, 1890 in Paignton in Devon, in 1926 she married Sir Reginald Arthur St John Leeds, 6th Baronet Leeds (1899–1970) and so she became Lady Etheleen Winnaretta Leeds, she died in Torbay in Devon in 1980. (James Antrim)

 

She had affairs with numerous women, never making attempts to conceal them, and never going for any great length of time without a female lover. She had these affairs during her own marriages and afterwards, and often with other married women. The affronted husband of one of her lovers once stood outside the princess's Venetian palazzo, declaring, "If you are half the man I think you are, you will come out here and fight me."

Polignac had a relationship with painter Romaine Brooks, which had begun in 1905, and which effectively ended her affair with Olga de Meyer, who was married at the time and whose godfather (and purported biological father) was Edward VII. Composer and conductor Ethel Smyth fell deeply in love with her during their affair. In the early 1920s Polignac became involved with pianist Renata Borgatti. From 1923 to 1933 her partner was the British socialite and novelist Violet Trefusis, with whom she had a loving but often turbulent relationship. Alvilde Chaplin, future wife of the author James Lees-Milne, was involved with Singer from 1938 to 1943; the two women were living together in London at the time of Winnaretta's death.


Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac, was a musical patron and heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. In 1893 she undertook an equally chaste marriage with Prince Edmond de Polignac, a gay amateur composer. The lavender marriage was based on profound love, mutual respect, understanding, and artistic friendship, expressed through their love of music. Polignac had a relationship with Olga de Meyer, Romaine Brooks, Ethel Smyth, Renata Borgatti, Violet Trefusis and Alvilde Chaplin.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnaretta_Singer

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

James Buchanan & William R. King

William Rufus deVane King was US Senator from Alabama (1819-1844, 1848-1853) and Vice President of the United States (1853) under Franklin Pierce. Believed to be the lover of President James BUCHANAN, King was referred to as "Miss Nancy" by Andrew Jackson and others in Washington. (Picture: Portrait of King, painted by George Cooke in 1839)

King was close friends with James Buchanan (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868), and the two had shared a house in Washington, D.C. for 15 years during their Congressional tenures and Buchanan wrote of his "communion" with King. After King left for France, in 1844 Buchanan wrote:

"I am now solitary and alone, having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection." (P: ©George Peter Alexander Healy (1818–1894)/Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. James Buchanan, 1859 (©4))

Source: Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals by Keith Stern

Further Readings:

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
Amazon: Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Mabel Reed & Mary Ellicott Arnold

Mary Ellicott Arnold (April 23, 1876–1968) was an American social activist, teacher and writer best known for In the Land of the Grasshopper Song, the memoir she wrote with Mabel Reed (1876–1963) on their experiences as Bureau of Indian Affairs employees, 1908–1909.

A native of Staten Island, New York, Arnold moved at an early age to Somerville, New Jersey where she began her childhood friendship with Mabel Reed, a companionship that later matured into a life partnership. Arnold studied business at Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, and agriculture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. As young women, Arnold and Reed devoted five years (1901–1906) to farming a fifty-five acre plot. They next gained experience as urban organizers in New York City. Their employer, City and Suburban Homes Company, was a philanthropic organization building affordable, decent housing for the working poor.

When Arnold and Reed accepted positions as so-called field matrons on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in the Klamath River Valley of Northern California, they were charged to exert a “civilizing influence” upon the fewer than eight hundred members of the Karok nation, a vagueness they were to exploit to their own benefit and that of the Karok.

Arnold and Reed lacked the social and racial prejudices of the era. Although the Bureau of Indian Affairs expected them to enforce white cultural values, they instead accepted Karok practices and established a close working friendship with Essie, a native woman with three husbands. They were eager, Arnold said, not to be “ladies—the kind who have Sunday schools, and never say a bad word, and rustle around in a lot of silk petticoats”.

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellicott_Arnold & coadyextension.stfx.ca/people/women/mary-ellicott-arnold/

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
Amazon: Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Michael Kirby & Johan van Vloten

Michael Donald Kirby AC, CMG, (born 18 March 1939) is an Australian retired judge, jurist, and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009. (P: ©Marcus Mok, Courtesy of Michael Kirby. Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG. (©15))

Michael Kirby has been open about being gay since 1999, when he came out in Who's Who in Australia by naming Johan van Vloten as his long-term partner. Van Vloten, who migrated to Australia from the Netherlands in 1963, has lived with Kirby since 1969. Kirby has often spoken publicly in support of gay rights. While President of the International Commission of Jurists he encouraged that organisation to give more consideration to human sexuality as an aspect of human rights, and as an Anglican he has expressed disappointment at his church's stance on gay rights. In 2002, at the Sydney Gay Games VI, Kirby was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony. "The movement for equality is unstoppable. Its message will eventually reach the four corners of the world," he told a crowd of 35,000.

In 2006, he attended the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Montreal, presiding over the Asia-Pacific Plenary.

In November 2007, Kirby accused the Anglican and Catholic archbishops of Sydney, Peter Jensen and George Pell respectively, of hindering the acceptance of gay people in Australian society, stating that homophobia was "reinforced even to this day by religious instruction, and it has to be said, religious instruction from the two archbishops of Sydney". Kirby also expressed disappointment in his "minority of one" status among his High Court of Australia colleagues, and indicated that "some of the justices perhaps have less liberal views than I have".


Michael Kirby is an Australian retired judge, jurist, and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009. When AIDS came along, he and his partner became involved and this was code language for his sexuality. Formally, they announced their relationship in Australian Who's Who in 1999. Van Vloten, who migrated to Australia from the Netherlands in 1963, has lived with Kirby since 1969. Kirby has often spoken publicly in support of gay rights.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kirby_(judge)

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
Amazon: Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Lady Catharine Jones & Mary Kendall

James Kendall, politician and governor of Barbados, is buried in the south choir aisle of Westminster Abbey. James's niece Mary Kendall was buried in the chapel of St John the Baptist in the Abbey and has a monument there with a kneeling alabaster figure of herself. The inscription, written by the Dean of Westminster Francis Atterbury, reads:

"Mrs MARY KENDALL daughter of Thomas Kendall Esqr. and of Mrs Mary Hallet, his wife, of Killigarth in Cornwall, was born at Westmr.[Westminster] Nov.8 1677 and dy'd at Epsome March 4 1709/10, having reach'd the full term of her blessed Saviour's life; and study'd to imitate his spotless example. She had great virtues, and as great a desire of concealing them: was of a severe life, but of an easy conversation; courteous to all, yet strictly sincere; humble, without meanness; beneficient, without ostentation; devout, without superstition. These admirable qualitys, in which she was equall'd by few of her sex, surpass'd by none, render'd her every way worthy of that close uion and friendship in which she liv'd with the Lady CATHERINE JONES; and in testimony of which she desir'd that even their ashes, after death, might not be divided: and, therefore, order'd her selfe here to be interr'd where, she knew, that excellent Lady design'd one day to rest, near the grave of her belov'd and religious mother, ELIZABETH, Countess of RANELAGH. This monument was erected by Capt. CHARLES KENDALL".

Her name was inscribed on the vault stone in front of the monument in the late 19th century. Mary's father Thomas Kendall, son of a merchant, died in 1684 and Mary lived with the Earl of Ranelagh's family while James was in the West Indies. Lady Catherine Jones (d.1740) was the Earl's daughter. Charles was Mary's cousin and was in the Royal Navy. Her estates were left to her cousin Canon Nicholas Kendall. The coats of arms show those for Kendall and also "or, a chief gules overall on a bend engrailed sable three bezants" for Hallet.

Photos of the monuments can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.


"The chapel of St John the Baptist in Westminster Abbey has the tomb of Mary Kendall (died March 13, 1709/1710) dating from 1710 with an inscription recording: <That close Union and Friendship, In which she lived, with the Lady Catharine Jones (died April 23, 1740); And in testimony of which she desir'd That even their Ashes, after Death, Might not be divided.>" -- Alan Bray. Mary Kendall was the niece of James Kendall, politician and governor of Barbados.

Source: www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/james-and-mary-kendall

Cover Reveal: Secret by Kindle Alexander

Secret by Kindle Alexander
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24938229-secret

Tristan Wilder, self-made millionaire and devastatingly handsome CEO of Wilder-Nation is on the verge of a very lucrative buyout. With tough negotiations ahead, he's armed with his acquisition pitch, ready to launch the deal of a lifetime. There’s just one glitch. The last thing he expects is to fall for the hot business owner he's trying to sway.

Dylan Reeves, computer science engineer and founder of the very successful social media site, Secret, is faced with a life-altering decision. A devoted family man with three kids and a wife, Dylan has been living a secret for years. Fiercely loyal to his convictions, his boundaries blur after meeting the striking owner of the corporation interested in acquiring his company. For the first time in his life, reckless desire consumes him when the gorgeous computer mogul makes an offer he can't refuse.

( Excerpt )

 



Author Bio: Best Selling Author Kindle Alexander is an innovative writer, and a genre-crosser who writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and erotica in both the male/male and male/female genres. It's always a surprise to see what's coming next!
I live in the suburbs of Dallas where it's true, the only thing bigger than an over active imagination, may be women's hair!
Usually, I try for funny. Humor is a major part of my life - I love to laugh, and it seems to be the thing I do in most situations - regardless of the situation, but jokes are a tricky deal... I don't want to offend anyone and jokes tend to offend. So instead I'm going to tell you about Kindle.
I tragically lost my sixteen year old daughter to a drunk driver. She had just been at home, it was early in the night and I heard the accident happen. I'll never forget that moment. The sirens were immediate and something inside me just knew. I left my house, drove straight to the accident on nothing more than instinct. I got to be there when my little girl died - weirdly, I consider that a true gift from above. She didn't have to be alone.
That time in my life was terrible. It's everything you think it would be times about a billion. I love that kid. I loved being her mother and I loved watching her grow into this incredibly beautiful person, both inside and out. She was such a gift to me. To have it all ripped away so suddenly broke me.
Her name was Kindle. Honest to goodness - it was her name and she died a few weeks before Amazon released their brand new Kindle ereader. She had no idea it was coming out and she would have finally gotten her name on something! Try finding a ruler with the name Kindle on it.. It never happened.
Through the course of that crippling event I was lucky enough to begin to write with a dear friend in the fan fiction world of Facebook. She got me through those dark days with her unwavering support and friendship. There wasn't a time she wasn't there for me. Sometimes together and sometimes by myself, we built a world where Kindle lives and stands for peace, love and harmony. It's its own kind of support group. I know without question I wouldn't be here today without her.
Find out more by visiting www.kindlealexander.com or email me at kindle@kindlealexander.com

Social Media Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Alexander/e/B009Q82Y0G/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1393958197&sr=8-2-ent
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Kindle-Alexander/152061231621115
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6421828.Kindle_Alexander?from_search=true
Website: http://www.kindlealexander.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KindleAlexander

Giveaway:
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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Making Time by C.J. Harte

Making Time by C.J. Harte
Lesbian Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (October 14, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626392013
ISBN-13: 978-1626392014
Amazon: Making Time
Amazon Kindle: Making Time

Mia Daniels has never forgotten the night her first crush sent her running home, humiliated. She has spent the last fifteen years trying to forget Teri Stanton. Just as she thinks her life is moving forward, Mia loses her lover and then must become her parents’ caretaker. She is still determined to make a life without Teri’s ghost haunting her.

Teri Stanton has sold her soul to her family’s business. She’s tripled the net worth and made it a global company. One day she will be the CEO. That is all she cares about. Until Mia Daniels shows up and keeps telling her to go away. Mia is attractive and smart, and Teri is interested, but Mia has too many responsibilities for Teri to deal with.

Mia may be Teri’s one chance to regain her soul back, but first she has to make time to prove to Mia she is worth the effort. Teri’s not sure if she can.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html